Energy & Environment

Now is not the time to work against American produced ethanol -- especially as we work to commercialize cellulosic ethanol. Americans, more than ever, are looking to home-grown alternative energy sources such as ethanol to meet their energy needs in a cleaner, more cost-effective way. Thankfully, the U.S. has made many investments and great strides in developing our domestic ethanol industry, and to further that growth, we need to continue to focus on and invest in research and production here at home.

However, in what can only come as a step backward for U.S. farmers and our biofuels industry, the Administration has recently signed a pact with Brazil that could result in U.S. funds subsidizing the production of foreign ethanol. It makes no sense to replace one source of foreign energy with another.

This moderate proposal to begin raising the standards for fuel economy deserves a serious look from the Senate. There are many good ideas out there and a healthy debate to be had about the best ways to do this. I hope the introduction of this bipartisan bill can spur the Senate to have this long-overdue discussion.

Our nation's veterans endured sacrifice and hardships in defending our freedom.  Now, these veterans’ personal data are insufficiently protected and subject to loss or theft.  The General Accounting Office, and the VA’s Office of the Inspector General have made recommendations to improve data security, and we enacted legislation last year to increase data security.  Yet, these breaches continue to occur.

That is why I want to see an outside audit and investigation on these security breaches to determine their extent and to identify practical safeguards.

What’s up with oil industry advertising? In full-page ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other major newspapers and magazines, Exxon, Chevron and the American Petroleum Institute soberly explain their positions on “climate change Read more...

There have been a few recent, high profile dam failures in the news and some that haven't been as widely publicized. Dams are critical to many communities for electrical power generation, water supply, and even recreation and tourism, all of which help economic development and create jobs. A failure in a dam could range from terribly inconvenient to catastrophic to a community, and that's what this bill aims to prevent. The more resources we put into dam safety now, the less we'll have to spend down the road to clean up any problems caused by dam failures.

I am proud to have introduced the Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Legislation.  This program has been very successful in the past in supporting facilities around the nation that rehabilitate marine mammals.  The goal is always to return the animals to the wild, but if that is not possible, this allows for the proper care of them within the facilities.  Many marine mammal research institutions have dedicated their resources and time toward recovering and rehabilitating marine mammals and it's important that we support them so that they may continue their important efforts in the future.

I agree with President Bush: America is addicted to oil and we need an intervention. Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has put us at the mercy of dictators and despots from South America to the Middle East.  Our energy market is held hostage to price spikes governed by a cartel of nations whose national policies are adversarial to American interests.

Add to this equation the threat of political instability in oil producing nations, the threat of a nuclear armed Iran and competition in the race for resources by emerging economies like China and India, and America faces a stark choice.  Either we remain dependent on our enemies and competing nations for our energy, or we harness our tremendous natural resources to create an energy economy driven by domestic energy.

For me, the choice could not be clearer.  Congress must make a commitment to fulfilling President Bush's proposal to reduce our gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years.  To do this, we must embrace the resources that will create an alternative to gasoline. Read more...

For the past six years, the United States has done far too little on the issue of global warming. There are two reasons for this. The first is that a significant number of lawmakers have not been persuaded that the threat is real because they have cited too many uncertainties that need to be resolved before we can do anything substantive. The second is that the concern over economic impacts to the country would be too great and could lead to sacrificing the competitive edge of the United States, displacing jobs and manufacturing.

Earlier this month, the latest scientific report from the United Nations – a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – laid to rest the debate over the first problem, that there are too many scientific uncertainties to link anthropogenic emissions and global warming.

The IPCC affirmed with over 90% certainty that most of the warming that our climate system has experienced in the last 50 years is due to human caused greenhouse gas emissions and that extreme weather events, heat waves, and heavy precipitation will become more frequent. Read more...

Both our economy and our environment will benefit from generating more electricity from renewable sources like wind. At present, power plants are our nation’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide, and the specter of climate change raises serious questions about making fossil fuels the foundation of our future economic growth. Meanwhile, the technology to generate electricity from wind is reliable, dependable, and cost-effective.

That explains why wind, in particular, has been one of our nation’s fastest growing energy sources over the last five years. Wind is safe and 100 percent clean. It’s a free and inexhaustible energy source, and it’s in abundant supply throughout much of the country. Wind provided one of the largest sources of NEW power generation in the country -- second only to natural gas -- in 2005 and 2006. America’s need for electricity is growing, and wind power is a vital part of a clean, cost-effective and secure energy portfolio.

It’s essential that we take steps to combat global warming and ensure our economic security, and Rep. Tom Udall’s (D-N.M.) bill to implement a nationwide renewable portfolio standard (H.R. 969) is a significant step in the right direction. Read more...

The purpose of the Small Business Extension Act is to make sure that the services provided by the Small Business Administration are not interrupted to the small business community that benefits from those programs.

Small businesses in this country make up, by definition, 99% of the businesses that exist (that means they have fewer than 500 employees). They’ve also been responsible for between 60% and 80% of the jobs created in the last decade. So it’s a part of the American economy we should not ignore, and so this bill I think will help to make sure that, whether it’s loans or various programs that benefit the small business community, they will not be interrupted.